The electronic camera is being established at Arizona State University, therefore fittingly, the very first images are of the scenic campus in Tempe, showing thermal views of the nearby buttes.
” The surface area of Europa is extremely cold, but the ocean below is warm, liquid water. From these temperature images, E-THEMIS will offer an excellent opportunity to study the geologic activity of Europa.”
Christiansen has been involved with comparable instruments on other missions, such as the Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
Artists idea of a Europa Clipper mission. Credit: NASA/JPL
The Europa Clipper is currently arranged to introduce in October 2024 and come to Jupiter in 2030. As an orbiter, it will study this icy moon through a series of flybys. While this is not a life-detection objective, it will carry out comprehensive reconnaissance of Europa and examine whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the capability to support life.
In 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted water vapor plumes emanating from Europas south pole. Europa Clippers instruments will be trying to find these plumes. Since these geysers might reach lots of hundreds of kilometers high, this uses the spacecraft an opportunity to taste Europas oceans without ever touching down– similar to Cassini finished with the plumes on Enceladus.
Instruments on board Europa Clipper consists of a number of types of cameras that will search for plumes, viewing for their shapes versus the brilliant light shown from Jupiter. Plumes might be visible in ultraviolet, and if so, the team will have the ability to utilize spectroscopy to determine their chemical makeup.
The E-THEMIS will look for hotspots in the ice sheets, which would mean ongoing or recent eruptions. If it discovers warmer-than-expected spots of ice, it might mean Europas believed ocean is more detailed to the surface area in that place. Other instruments can target those locations to learn more about the moons subsurface chemistry.
Looking north from ISTB4, this E-THEMIS temperature level image reveals ASUs Sun Devil Stadium and “A” Mountain, to name a few identifiable ASU landmarks. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
The “very first light” E-THEMIS electronic camera test images were drawn from the rooftop of the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 4 (ISTB4) on the ASU Tempe campus using a specifically designed mobile cleanroom lab, which kept the cam safe from dust, microbes and aerosol particles.
” Our group invested months developing a portable tidy lab to securely transport E-THEMIS to the roof of the building and collect data in a controlled environment,” Christensen stated. “The instrument worked perfectly and remains in exceptional focus.” Christensen stated.
Discover more about Europa Clipper at this NASA site.
Lead image caption: E-THEMIS temperature color image from the “very first light” test, taken from the rooftop of ISTB4 on the ASU Tempe campus. The leading image was acquired at 12:40 p.m., the middle at 4:40 p.m. and the bottom image at 6:20 p.m. (after sundown).
Source: Arizona State University
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The highly anticipated Europa Clipper mission, set to release in 2024, will examine Jupiters moon Europa. This icy moon with a subsurface ocean is thought about among the most luring places in our Solar System where life may exist. To look underneath Europas icy crust, the Clipper mission has a host of instruments trying to find plumes and hot areas.
A thermal emissions imager, called E-THEMIS (Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System) just recently passed a significant screening difficulty just recently by catching its “very first light” images with its infrared electronic camera.
The highly expected Europa Clipper mission, set to introduce in 2024, will investigate Jupiters moon Europa. To look below Europas icy crust, the Clipper mission has a host of instruments looking for plumes and hot areas.
The Europa Clipper is currently scheduled to release in October 2024 and arrive at Jupiter in 2030. While this is not a life-detection mission, it will carry out comprehensive reconnaissance of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the capability to support life.
Europa Clippers instruments will be looking for these plumes.
